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Baby Dragon wont eat crickets!

themegwyss

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
Hello everyone and TYIA for any information.
So I just picked up a baby dragon over the weekend from my local petsmart. He was super chill the first day while i got his tank all ready(40 gal, heat lamp, uv lamp, rock cave, dishes, hammock)
I used to babysit a friends beardie for weeks at a time but am totally new to the experience owning one myself. I originally wanted to adopt an adult but couldnt find any in my area so I went with baby Spike who is shorter than my hand. Tiny little guy.
The petstore folk told me they feed him 10-15 crickets a day + freeze dried veggies and a mealworm every other day. So far Ive only seen him eat 1-2 crickets a day but loves the mealwprms when i offer them. He usually only takes 2 but he is pretty small so no worries there. Ive also seen him eat his fresh cut greens i give him. He is super skiddish now unlike the first day, and eats nowhere near us much as they said he does. Im assuming he is just adjusting to his new environment and Im worrying for nothing? I want to interact with him but i hate the thought of scaring him as he runs away from my hand as fast as possible. Tell me this is all normal, please! Lol!!
 

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Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
Hello everyone and TYIA for any information.
So I just picked up a baby dragon over the weekend from my local petsmart. He was super chill the first day while i got his tank all ready(40 gal, heat lamp, uv lamp, rock cave, dishes, hammock)
I used to babysit a friends beardie for weeks at a time but am totally new to the experience owning one myself. I originally wanted to adopt an adult but couldnt find any in my area so I went with baby Spike who is shorter than my hand. Tiny little guy.
The petstore folk told me they feed him 10-15 crickets a day + freeze dried veggies and a mealworm every other day. So far Ive only seen him eat 1-2 crickets a day but loves the mealwprms when i offer them. He usually only takes 2 but he is pretty small so no worries there. Ive also seen him eat his fresh cut greens i give him. He is super skiddish now unlike the first day, and eats nowhere near us much as they said he does. Im assuming he is just adjusting to his new environment and Im worrying for nothing? I want to interact with him but i hate the thought of scaring him as he runs away from my hand as fast as possible. Tell me this is all normal, please! Lol!!
Your little dragon is in a big world and he is scared he needs to learn to trust so I would let him be for now as far as picking up outside the tank - pet him in the tank and let him get acclimated to his tank and surroundings --- lets go over the husbandry in the tank --- first if you have a coil UVB that would be in a dome you need to get rid of it-- they are inadequate and will cause all kinds of health problems -- next you need surface basking temps of 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer you want 2 of those -- NO stickons they are inaccurate - NO colored bulbs NO off white bulbs or yellowish bulbs for basking -- you want a solid clear bright white basking bulb -- these things I just posted is critical for the health of your dragon --- if any of this stuff is off he will quit eating -- right now hes eating a little which is good but we need him to be eating more than what he is -- its also relocation stress going on here -- please NO more meal worms - they will cause impaction - the exoskeleton on them is too harsh on his stomach please get him some BSFL www.symtonbsf.com go w/ medium size for now put them on his salads use as many as you want they are a great staple feeder- I would get him switched over to dubia roaches www.dubiaroaches.com they need to be no bigger than the space between the eyes look at their chart - you can get him some small super worms - feed 1-3 on his salads as well -- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale info its outdated
please dust the roaches w/ calcium D3 5 x per week once per day and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week once time per day --- I would set up a 10 gallon aquarium and get 200 roaches feed dubia food along w/ dubia dew for hydration - you can feed the roaches what you feed the dragon just not both carrots one or the other too much Vit A -- I can post good UVB fixtures for you if you like --- but that should be fixed as soon as possible -- coils are NO good ---
 

themegwyss

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
Your little dragon is in a big world and he is scared he needs to learn to trust so I would let him be for now as far as picking up outside the tank - pet him in the tank and let him get acclimated to his tank and surroundings --- lets go over the husbandry in the tank --- first if you have a coil UVB that would be in a dome you need to get rid of it-- they are inadequate and will cause all kinds of health problems -- next you need surface basking temps of 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer you want 2 of those -- NO stickons they are inaccurate - NO colored bulbs NO off white bulbs or yellowish bulbs for basking -- you want a solid clear bright white basking bulb -- these things I just posted is critical for the health of your dragon --- if any of this stuff is off he will quit eating -- right now hes eating a little which is good but we need him to be eating more than what he is -- its also relocation stress going on here -- please NO more meal worms - they will cause impaction - the exoskeleton on them is too harsh on his stomach please get him some BSFL www.symtonbsf.com go w/ medium size for now put them on his salads use as many as you want they are a great staple feeder- I would get him switched over to dubia roaches www.dubiaroaches.com they need to be no bigger than the space between the eyes look at their chart - you can get him some small super worms - feed 1-3 on his salads as well -- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale info its outdated
please dust the roaches w/ calcium D3 5 x per week once per day and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week once time per day --- I would set up a 10 gallon aquarium and get 200 roaches feed dubia food along w/ dubia dew for hydration - you can feed the roaches what you feed the dragon just not both carrots one or the other too much Vit A -- I can post good UVB fixtures for you if you like --- but that should be fixed as soon as possible -- coils are NO good ---
Thanks so much! I ended up getting him some dubias, he ate two of those. I also put a background on his tank and he changed so much since i put it in! Running around, chasing crickets, ate about 4 of them plus some more greens. Also grabbed more habitat decor and holy cow is he every exploring l. I also bought a new light for him. Its a zoomed 150w bulb. Basking and uv. My pet store doesnt have many options but the lady recommended that one. She said she uses it for her beardie.
 

Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
Thanks so much! I ended up getting him some dubias, he ate two of those. I also put a background on his tank and he changed so much since i put it in! Running around, chasing crickets, ate about 4 of them plus some more greens. Also grabbed more habitat decor and holy cow is he every exploring l. I also bought a new light for him. Its a zoomed 150w bulb. Basking and uv. My pet store doesnt have many options but the lady recommended that one. She said she uses it for her beardie.
Ok please post a pic of the box for uvb- if it's a mvb they are not enough for uvb- screens block 30% of the rays and if it's too high the less the uvb rays- I always recommend a long tube fixture there are 3 I recommend
 

themegwyss

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
Ok please post a pic of the box for uvb- if it's a mvb they are not enough for uvb- screens block 30% of the rays and if it's too high the less the uvb rays- I always recommend a long tube fixture there are 3 I recommend
 

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Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
Ok that's just a basking bulb - what is the uvb your using? If the uvb is in a dome it's a coil- they are no good please post a pic of the uvb- the basking bulb is good -
 

Dk638

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
78
Our baby dragon stopped eating the crickets as well. He will only eat dubia, bsfl and hornworms. It’s annoying because it’s easy to get crickets in a pinch. Dubia are expensive in the pet store and they take like 4 days to get shipped here.
 

Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
Our baby dragon stopped eating the crickets as well. He will only eat dubia, bsfl and hornworms. It’s annoying because it’s easy to get crickets in a pinch. Dubia are expensive in the pet store and they take like 4 days to get shipped here.
Please order in quantity - I order from www.dubiaroaches.com - they are out of Kansas I believe and are very good- they take 3 days to get to me I am in MN - roaches last a long time - I feed 2 adult dragons and they get them 2-3 times per week usually eating around 3-4 depending on how hungry they are and how big the roach is
 

Dk638

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
78
Yeah I ordered 150 last delivery. He/she is eating them like crazy lol. I’m gonna have to set up a bigger tank and I guess breed them but I don’t feel like taking care of roaches too.
 

Dk638

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
78
I get them from dubia.com which I think is the same site. Delivery before this they all died so I had to wait for a replacement. The holidays messed up delivery I think
 

Murphy & CharLee’s Mom

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
112
Your little dragon is in a big world and he is scared he needs to learn to trust so I would let him be for now as far as picking up outside the tank - pet him in the tank and let him get acclimated to his tank and surroundings --- lets go over the husbandry in the tank --- first if you have a coil UVB that would be in a dome you need to get rid of it-- they are inadequate and will cause all kinds of health problems -- next you need surface basking temps of 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer you want 2 of those -- NO stickons they are inaccurate - NO colored bulbs NO off white bulbs or yellowish bulbs for basking -- you want a solid clear bright white basking bulb -- these things I just posted is critical for the health of your dragon --- if any of this stuff is off he will quit eating -- right now hes eating a little which is good but we need him to be eating more than what he is -- its also relocation stress going on here -- please NO more meal worms - they will cause impaction - the exoskeleton on them is too harsh on his stomach please get him some BSFL www.symtonbsf.com go w/ medium size for now put them on his salads use as many as you want they are a great staple feeder- I would get him switched over to dubia roaches www.dubiaroaches.com they need to be no bigger than the space between the eyes look at their chart - you can get him some small super worms - feed 1-3 on his salads as well -- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale info its outdated
please dust the roaches w/ calcium D3 5 x per week once per day and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week once time per day --- I would set up a 10 gallon aquarium and get 200 roaches feed dubia food along w/ dubia dew for hydration - you can feed the roaches what you feed the dragon just not both carrots one or the other too much Vit A -- I can post good UVB fixtures for you if you like --- but that should be fixed as soon as possible -- coils are NO good ---
So what is the update on Kale? Can they have daily? Specifically juveniles?
 

Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
So what is the update on Kale? Can they have daily? Specifically juveniles?
Yes kale is a great staple feeder--https://www.beardeddragon.org/threads/kale-is-good-for-your-beardies.252256/
 
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